Lifeboat Foundation

MIT engineers have developed ultralight fabric solar cells that can quickly and easily turn any surface into a power source.

These durable, flexible solar cells, which are much thinner than a human hair, are glued to a strong, lightweight fabric, making them easy to install on a fixed surface. They can provide energy on the go as a wearable power fabric or be transported and rapidly deployed in remote locations for assistance in emergencies. They are one-hundredth the weight of conventional solar panels, generate 18 times more power-per-kilogram, and are made from semiconducting inks using printing processes that can be scaled in the future to large-area manufacturing.

Continue reading “Paper-thin solar cell can turn any surface into a power source (w/video)” »

Outshining conventional solar cells

When they tested the device, the MIT researchers found it could generate 730 watts of power per kilogram when freestanding and about 370 watts-per-kilogram if deployed on the high-strength Dyneema fabric, which is about 18 times more power-per-kilogram than conventional solar cells.

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In the future humanity may build enormous structures, feats of mega-engineering that may rival planets or even be of greater scope. This episode catalogs roughly 100 major types of Megastructure, from those that are cities in space to those that rival galaxies.

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Continue reading “The Megastructure Compendium” »

A Dyson Sphere is a megastructure that has not yet been built. Scientists conceive of it as a giant shell that encloses the sun.

Hypothetically, the Dyson Sphere will be lined with mirrors and solar panels that will collect the energy from the sun. This would be an unimaginable amount of energy.

In theory, the Dyson Sphere would be large enough that it could be a habitable place for humans and it would act as an artificial biosphere in the case that Earth’s supplies have dwindled. It would be a way to ensure survival for the human race.

Canada’s TC Energy has shut the Keystone pipeline — which connects Alberta to the US — after 14,000 barrels of crude oil spilled into a creek in Kansas.

Pipe operator TC Energy announced the pipeline’s shutdown at 5.35 a.m. CT on Thursday. The Canadian company said it initiated an energy shutdown and response at 8 p.m. CT on Wednesday after alarms went off detecting a pressure drop in the system.

The cause of the leak is not known. It is not immediately clear as of presstime when the pipeline is expected to come back online.

Researchers at Japan’s National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) have developed a device capable of taking hundreds of times more electrochemical measurements than conventional devices. By analyzing the device’s large amounts of data, the team has identified molecular mechanisms that enable electrogenic bacteria to efficiently generate electricity even when subjected to a wide range of electrode potentials.

This technique can also be used to analyze materials interacting with microorganisms (e.g., biodegradable plastics), potentially facilitating efforts to discover innovative microbial degradable materials.

The work was published in the journal Patterns in October, 2022.

It’s claimed to have been created following calls made by Chinese authorities for the independent development of cutting-edge technology.

In East China’s Fujian Province, a huge offshore wind turbine with the world’s largest per-unit capacity has come off the assembly line, according to China’s China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG). According to CTG, the 16-megawatt wind turbine boasts the world’s longest impeller diameter of 827-foot (252 meters), the lightest per megawatt weight, and a 480-foot (146-meter) hub, which is equivalent to the height of a 50-story structure.

Continue reading “Chinese companies claim they have built the world’s biggest 16 MW wind turbine” »

Twitter is rumored to re-roll-out its flopped Twitter Blue subscription tomorrow, which will once again enable people to pay real cash money to get a blue check next to their name. Hopefully, this time, it won’t lead to mass impersonation and misinformation, but who can say? Yet already, some users are noting that when they click on an existing blue check (not of the $8 variety), they’re served with a pop-up that says, “This is a legacy verified account. It may or may not be notable.”

This is especially funny when it appears on accounts like The White House, or even Elon Musk’s Twitter itself. To be fair, is Elon Musk really notable? He didn’t even found Tesla.

An electric vehicle for around $7,300? You heard that right. Honda announced today a new light commercial electric van set to launch in spring 2024 that’s ideal for both personal and business use.

With a starting price of 1 million yen, which currently amounts to about $7,300, Honda’s new electric commercial van is about as cheap as it gets for new vehicles (ICE or electric).

The new EV is based on Honda’s light commercial N-VAN, released in 2018. However, with the rising demand for zero-emission EV options for business and personal use, the automaker will carry the qualities current customers love the most (large storage space, ease of use, flexibility), converting it into an electric workhorse.